


the stars within

by 8makes1cheese



Category: ATEEZ (Band), ONEWE (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dance, Coming Out, Crying, Falling In Love, Feelings Realization, Fluff and Angst, Gentle Kissing, Grocery Shopping, Holding Hands, Homophobic Language, Kissing, Kissing at Midnight, M/M, Neck Kissing, Public Display of Affection, shoulder kisses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:28:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23976745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/8makes1cheese/pseuds/8makes1cheese
Summary: seonghwa has his first taste of adventure, and it tastes like choi san.
Relationships: Choi San/Park Seonghwa, Jin Yonghoon/Kang Hyungu | Kanghyun
Comments: 1
Kudos: 39





	1. prologue

Seonghwa has always been a "model child." 

His family's treasure, beautiful, smart, rich, popular, you name it. He's good at sports, top of every class, and friendly to everyone, plus being so stunningly good-looking that he could be a model. At first glance his life seems perfect. 

It isn't perfect. It's deathly boring. 

Seonghwa sighs as he sets down his phone and glances around the room, noting that the sun is setting. He's been texting Yunho for hours. 

Yunho's birthday is approaching, and he lovingly invited his dear best friend- aka Seonghwa- to his party, which will likely be mostly alcohol and sex, and Seonghwa will be painfully out of place. 

He scowls and lies down heavily on the bed. Yunho is getting bold, straying away from the rules he's followed his whole life, getting himself into trouble. Seonghwa doesn't have that spark in him. He wasn't born to be wild. He's just boring, perfect Seonghwa. 

He's never tasted adventure before. He wonders how it feels. 

He dreams of flashing lights and full glasses that night. When he drags himself out of bed in the morning, his head hurts.


	2. first sight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> seonghwa meets someone.

The dreaded party arrives inevitably. 

Seonghwa takes a long time getting ready, stupidly hoping that he'll delay long enough to miss at least most of the party. Obviously, this fails; Yunho and his guests are barely getting started when he arrives, doing his best to stay out of sight. 

Miraculously, he succeeds, ducking out onto the porch and sinking into a chair. Thankfully no one appears to be there. He exhales and pulls out his phone, intending to play a game until the party's over. 

"Hey," a soft voice says. 

Seonghwa looks up, startled. The speaker is a blond-haired boy with shy eyes and a tattoed chest. Seonghwa knows him, he's seen him around; Kang Hyungu, a musician who dropped out of high school to join a band. Seonghwa has always thought of him with pity, though he's unsure why. 

He's never seen Hyungu without his boyfriend. Said man works at a local grocery store, he's a couple years older than Hyungu, and if Seonghwa remembers correctly, he's also part of the band. Seonghwa knows him as tall, loud and constantly smiling. He can't actually recall seeing him not smiling. 

"I'm sorry for interrupting," Hyungu says quietly, "but it's chaos in there and I needed some fresh air, I guess." 

Seonghwa nods. "Me too." 

"You're Park Seonghwa, right?" Hyungu asks. "My boyfriend has mentioned you." 

Seonghwa squirms uncomfortably. It's not that he himself minds their relationship, but just thinking of what his parents would say makes his insides twist. "Uh, what did he say?" 

Hyungu shrugs. "He said you're chill. Nicer than your parents." He winces. "I'm sorry. Yonghoon is kind of blunt sometimes." 

"He knows my parents?" Seonghwa blurts. 

"Uh." Hyungu grimaces. "Long story." 

They fall into silence. Seonghwa stares at the floor and thinks up a thousand scenarios- none of them positive- involving Hyungu's boyfriend and his own parents. Finally he stands and mutters "I need water," quickly slipping away through the house to the kitchen. 

He fills his glass and gulps the cool water down hastily, turning to escape back outside, but he freezes. 

His breath catches. 

"Hi," he squeaks. 

The young man in the doorway looks at him thoughtfully and smiles. "Hello!" 

His voice is bright and cheerful, a direct contrast to his appearance. And holy shit, he is ethereal. 

His hair is black, shot through with dark green. His eyes are lined with smoky eyeliner, eyelids glittering with dark shadow. Silver crosses dangle from his ears, and his lips are an entrancing red; Seonghwa finds himself licking his own, which have gone dry already. 

A single strand of glossy black hair falls over the boy's forehead. His eyes are fierce but not unkind, sparkling with humor and interest. 

Seonghwa's gaze drift lower. The young man is dressed in a scandalous outfit- the thighs of his tight leather pants open, only fishnets preventing his skin from being completely exposed. His shirt has long, flowing sleeves, but the shoulders are bare, and his collarbones- Seonghwa forces himself to look away. 

The boy breaks the silence by saying sweetly, "Is everything okay?" 

"Fine," Seonghwa gasps. A rush of boldness runs briefly through him, and he extends his hand quickly. "I'm Park Seonghwa." 

The young man smiles briefly. "Choi San." 

He has dimples. That's it. Seonghwa is falling already. 

Worse, he doesn't even want to pull himself back up.


	3. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> seonghwa is lost
> 
> *warning: mentioned minor violence and homophobia

Seonghwa is an idiot. 

Leaning his head against the shower wall, letting the hot water roll down his back, he repeats it over and over; "I'm an idiot." God, what would his parents think if they knew the thoughts their son was having right now? 

"Stop thinking about him," he mutters. "It's wrong." 

Is it wrong? 

He thinks back to Hyungu and Yonghoon. He's seen them many times in the store where Yonghoon works, laughing and talking and just enjoying each other's company. There are many people, even just within their town, who see the couple's affection as something wrong. Is it, though? 

Seonghwa hisses. His mind is a mess right now. 

He forces his brain off San for as long as he can. Out of the blue, he remembers a story he's heard around the town, a story of how a disgusted customer at that particular store had tried to cuss out Yonghoon, who had stood and taken it without even losing his smile. In anger, the customer had thrown a slur and, at least the way Seonghwa heard it, grabbed onto Yonghoon's earring and torn it straight through the lobe of his ear. Supposedly, if you looked, his earlobe was still divided down the middle. Seonghwa shudders. 

San's smiling face appears in his mind again, and he punches the wall in frustration. 

"Are you okay?" 

He closes his eyes. 

"I'm fine, mom," he calls back weakly. 

Fine. He's fine. 

...

Seonghwa strides into the grocery store, thoughtfully looking around. He has to buy Yunho a gift, and there's a section of the store with little candies and other things he could throw in to make his gift-giving seem more genuine. He shuffles through the store slowly, looking around, deep in thought. 

He picks out some candies and approaches the check-out. Aisle 3 is Yonghoon's, and Seonghwa sees a head of familiar blond hair seated next to him, as always. 

He gets into the line, which is fairly short. He doesn't have much to buy. The customers ahead of him move quickly, and soon enough he's paying for his things. 

Yonghoon keeps up a steady flow of conversation, smiling the whole time. He looks tired. Seonghwa feels a bit sorry for adding extra work onto the man's already very dull schedule. 

Hyungu contributes a few words to the conversation, and Yonghoon turns to smile at him. Seonghwa immediately looks at his ear and sucks in an audible breath. It really is torn. 

"Everything okay?" Yonghoon asks. 

"Fine," Seonghwa breathes, and he pays quickly, getting out of the store as fast as he can. 

"Hey!" 

He freezes. The voice sounds familiar. 

Someone jogs up next to him, and he turns to see a wide, dimpled smile and fluffy hair. He stumbles over his own feet. 

"Hi, San," he stammers. 

"Hi! It's Seonghwa, right?" 

Seonghwa nods stupidly. "Uh-huh." 

San looks different. His fancy makeup is gone, hair messy and loose; he's dressed in black jeans and an oversized grey sweatshirt. He looks incredibly small and huggable. 

"Out buying gifts?" San asks. "Or do you plan to eat all that candy yourself?" 

"Oh, it's all for me," Seonghwa assures him seriously. 

San's face changes momentarily. 

"I'm kidding, it's for Yunho." 

San breaks into a delighted smile and lets out a high-pitched laugh. "Dude." 

Seonghwa finds himself grinning like an idiot. Hell, San probably thinks he's so creepy. 

"So," San says slowly. "I'm moving into my new apartment in eight days. Wanna come to my welcome party?" 

Seonghwa blinks. And blinks again, and again. San is inviting him to his apartment. San is inviting him...

"Yes," he manages, and coughs, attempting to cover up his choked tone. 

"Awesome!" San gives him a quick hug and Seonghwa's heart does a wild leap. "Can I get your number?" 

Seonghwa gives it to him in a daze. He can hardly believe this is happening. 

"Great!" San smiles that killer smile and wiggles his fingers. "Bye, see you then!" 

"Bye," Seonghwa manages. 

And God, he's in so much trouble.

**Author's Note:**

> this is very short, but it's only the prologue; chapter one is in the works.


End file.
